Pete Hegseth isn’t getting off easy in the eyes of the world. The US defence secretary, who’d you expect to keep official matters hush, has seemingly once again dragged himself into a Signal chat scandal. The Pentagon chief is believed to have disclosed Yemen war details on another Signal group chat, which included his wife, lawyer and brother, according to CNN and New York Times.
Three people privy to the chat came forward with claims that the alleged family chat was set up during his confirmation hearing, where he was questioned over sexual assault and workplace drinking allegations earlier this year. While the Signal chat is believed to have been originally used by his closest allies to strategise during the tumultuous period, Hegseth continued using it even after he was confirmed as the nation’s defence secretary following a dramatic tie-breaking vote (despite his alleged conduct).
Pete Hegseth controversy: New Signal breaks out a month later…
Prior to the new reported details, The Atlantic shared the text chain of President Trump’s top national security officials discussing potential military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen in mid-March. The news outlet chanced upon those delicate details after its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to the (first) Signal chat.
The messages shone light on operational details Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sent to the group chat. The bigger issue here, just as before, is that such highly confidential texts related to the Yemen war were shared on an unclassified commercial messenger which could be vulnerable to international hackers’ onslaught.
Pete Hegseth’s family members believed to have read the Yemen attack details on Signal chat
The people familiar with the chat told CNN that over a dozen people are in the alleged group chat. The second Signal chat in focus at the moment reportedly granted access to the operational details to Pete Hegseth’s brother Phil, his lawyer Tim Parlatore and his wife Jennifer.
Both Phil and Tim have jobs at the Department of Defence, whereas his wife does not. Whether those included in the Signal chat have security clearance also remains a mystery.
First Signal chat scandal
The first Signal chat is already under investigation by the acting Inspector General of the Defence Department. In a letter to the defence secretary, Steven Stebbins wrote that the “evaluation” seeks to determine whether Hegseth and other significant Pentagon officials “complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business.”
With all that’s happening and has happened, even Hegseth’s closest advisors are shifting their allegiance. His former press secretary John Ullyot previously spoke out against him in a statement to CNN. “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” he said.
Pete Hegseth is believed to have divulged details including the exact timing of the strikes against the Houthis and the kinds of weapons system that would be used despite it all being labelled as classified at the time. The first group chat, exposed by The Atlantic, also had the vice president and the national security advisor.
In his defence, US officials claimed that the information disclosed in the text chain was not classified. Hegseth’s spokesperson Sean Parnell also informed, “These additional Signal chat messages confirm there were no classified materials or war plans shared. The Secretary was merely updating the group on a plan that was underway and had already been briefed through official channels. The American people see through the Atlantic’s pathetic attempts to distract from President Trump’s national security agenda.”
As a result, the ongoing probe tied to the first chat hopes to uncover whether Pete Hegseth complied with the classification requirement, retaining records that should not have been revealed on a commercial messaging app.